ID south american cichlid?

[Freakgecko91]

Kay, so I bought a couple south American cichlids, but I dont want to say what they are as to keep people unbiased. They are cut recently about 2 inches long, but their patterns just don't match the species norm :/


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[HUKIT]

I can tell you what they are but what were they sold as?

 

[Freakgecko91]

Laetacara thayeri

 

[HUKIT]

Laetacara thayeri

They were correct, very distinctive pattern along the lateral line.

 

[Freakgecko91]

I was told they'll be the same size as keyholes, and I keep finding conflicting information unfortunately

 

[HUKIT]

They were nice pick up by the way, as they are seldomly seen any longer and if they are they don't come cheap.

They will be minimally larger than a keyhole with most males hitting the 6" mark and females slightly smaller. The largest one I've personally seen was around 6.5". That is where the similarity stops as they have a drasticlly different attitude than keyholes, they are aggressive towards tankmates which increases ten fold like most new worlds when they spawn.

 

[Freakgecko91]

I may have to tank them back then s my tank is completely community :/ I only paid $11 each for them though

 

[HUKIT]

I may have to tank them back then s my tank is completely community :/ I only paid $11 each for them though

I'm not sure what size tank and tankmates they share but I would try keep them and monitor their behavior, fish like people can break the stereotypical molds and surprise you. You will be rewarded with a gorgeous seldom seen fish.

 

[Freakgecko91]

I only have a 40 column tank with several other dwarf cichlids that get along flawlessly

 

[Freakgecko91]

They seem quite timid as of right now, I just don't want a bloodbath with my Apistos and baby dicrossus filamentosa :/ or my dicrossus maculatus

 

[HUKIT]

Very nice choice with the checkers, you must have great LFS with selections like that. Where ever they are tell them they're doing a great job stocking the store.

What size tank are they in?

 

[Freakgecko91]

The 40 gallon for the time being, the male has been courting so I'm planning on a separate 20-gallon spawning/grow out tank soon
And the LFS is great which is why I've managed to overstock my tank unfortunately :/ i just love all these dwarves and don't have room for as many tanks as I want currently, but eventually I plan on moving out on my own and I'll be able to expand

The Lfs has basically every cichlid you could ask for (besides keyholes lol)

 

[HUKIT]

I Breed some absolute brutes in terms of sheer aggression when spawning, have you given any thought to a light crate tank divider, they're using to make , Easy to install so when protecting your lady friends it's sure fire way to keep them close but to close. I've even had them spawn on opposites sides of the light crate.

 

[Freakgecko91]

My tank has about 6 cichlid stones (mostly used as beds lol) and a 2ft piece of driftwood that breaks the line of sight for everyone and has several caves under it, but everyone gets along so amazingly (*knock on wood) and most are still juveniles, like all my Apistos (cacatuoides and trifasciata) and my filamentosa is about a 1/2 inch long haha my bolivian rams are the police of the tank, helping to break up and small squabbles between my Apistos haha everybody lives in harmony, and that 20 gallon long is my back up, which is why I have a HOB filter in addition to my canister, in case I need to instant cycle a new tank I would just love me some maculatus fry easily my favorite cichlids ever! Plus they are nearly unheard of in my area, so I'm sure they could fetch a pretty penny lol I "paid" $25 each, but bc of trade-ins, i only had to pay for a single one